Gluten levels in commercial beers, Clarity Ferm and other questions

[luckybeagle]

Hi all,

My wife shows markers for gluten sensitivity on her blood panel. She hasn't done full blown celiac testing yet, but seeks to avoid gluten until we have more answers. It's a big bummer for her because we've done more than our fair share of beer drinking, festivals, and brewing together over the years.

I came across Clarity Ferm, which is supposed to reduce gluten peptides to <20 ppm. The international standard for acceptable gluten levels for people who have Celiac Disease is a max of around 20ppm per whatever food or drink they are having. To me, adding Clarity Ferm seems like a good, safe insurance policy that would allow her to enjoy my beer again.

But then I got to googling and discovered the following:

• Duvel Belgian Golden Ale naturally has <20ppm gluten peptides in it, as do most lagers
• Stouts and Porters generally have 8 to 25, with Guinness (for example) having roughly 20ppm. More robust, high gravity examples push this number up.
• 100ppm or less is generally considered "low gluten levels," and safe for the gluten sensitive (non celiac) which nearly every beer I've been able to find information on falls under.

It seems like a lot of beers actually fall within the realm of safe for the gluten sensitive. Since my wife does not experience GI or skin symptoms of gluten intolerance, but affects her mood and energy, I'm wondering if beer in general is actually reasonably safe for her, and for other people that can tolerate mild levels of gluten? We always viewed a bottle of beer as 12 ounces of gluten TNT, but it seems like there's much less in it than we both thought.

What are your thoughts? Should I add Clarity Ferm to my beer at the onset of fermentation as an insurance policy for her? Are most lower gravity commercial beers (maybe non hefeweizen/german wheat beer) generally safe for the gluten sensitive?

 

[skleice]

There's no easy answer. Much of it would depend on your wife's exact diagnosis. The testing all around is murky at best and everybody reacts differently. Playing the ppm game can be very dangerous. There are people drinking gluten reduced beers that don't get sick but then have terrible endoscopy results a year later showing major damage to their small bowel.

I would look to get more clarification from your wife's doctor before proceeding (cautiously). There is a sticky at the top of this forum with lots of clarity ferm talk.

 

[homebrewfinds]

If she has celiac disease, I think she should avoid gluten removed beers. The first clinical study on these has been completed and showed mixed results... https://gluten.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/170209_BeerStudy.pdf

 

[Silly Yak]

If there are signs of possible celiac disease then that should be a conversation with the doctor and probably a referral to a gastroenterologist. The gold standard for diagnosis is an upper endoscopy and your wife should really still be consuming gluten before that test. I personally avoid low gluten at all costs because I've been diagnosed celiac.

On a positive note, you can make truly delicious 100% gluten free beers with alternative grains that are frequently discussed in this forum. That way you won't have anything to worry about.

 

[applescrap]

Seems there are more and more choices every day. Hope all is well.

 

[LittleRiver]

My daughter (30) has celiac and can't drink my beer. Because of that I started making some cider and mead, and she has loved them. I haven't tried brewing any gluten free beer, but may some day.

I saw a dramatic positive difference in her health after she was diagnosed with celiac and started avoiding gluten. If she accidentally gets even a small dose of gluten it has a very negative effect on her.

To the OP, if your wife does test positive for celiac I would not try to play the numbers game of which beers have a low enough concentration. It's just not worth it.

 

[redllama]

My sister in law has celiac and when she was first diagnosed I made some beers for her using clarity ferm. She could typically have 2 or 3 before starting to feel a bit uncomfortable but it did not make her full blown sick. If it turns out to be a gluten sensitivity then I think clarity ferm is a good place to experiment and see if it works. However, if she turns out to be full on celiac it's cider and wine.

 

[glutarded-chris]

When people with celic get exposed, they often talk about "getting sick". I think this is misleading. I view the autoimmune response to gluten as more of an injury than getting sick. If you eat too much greasy food you might get diarrhea and feel sick or if you get a cold you would say you are sick, but once that passes, you are good as new. When a celiac gets exposed, there is injury and a healing period that follows. That means repeated minor exposure can be cumulative and eventually you feel acute symptoms. Sometimes the symptoms present themselves well after the exposure which makes it hard to determine exactly what food or what meal got you.

If you think of it like an injury, you want ZERO known gluten because you cannot fully control the background cross contamination that is unavoidable in the world. Celiac is a spectrum disorder. We have to have a single name for it but I suspect it is slightly different each individual. My advise is if you even think you have celiac, assume you have zero tolerance and cut out anything that has a gluten ingredient.

That means make true gluten free beer! Be healthy and drink beer that does not injure you on the first sip!

 

[muddy1015]

My wife is in similar position, did a lot of panels just this April and came back non-celiac but very gluten sensitive. I tried to do a little probing with her doctor and she recommended still avoiding anything that contains gluten, even significantly reduced. Like skleice said you just can't know what kind of internal effects it might be having. I think ultimately my wife will end up maybe having a very occassional beer on a trip, etc. but in the meantime I'm working hard to get my GF brewing up to snuff. It's definitely a major bummer, the rise of hard seltzers this summer has been a small bit of saving grace for her for things like concerts, cookouts, etc

 

[Soulshine2]

Hi all,

My wife shows markers for gluten sensitivity on her blood panel. She hasn't done full blown celiac testing yet, but seeks to avoid gluten until we have more answers. It's a big bummer for her because we've done more than our fair share of beer drinking, festivals, and brewing together over the years.

I came across Clarity Ferm, which is supposed to reduce gluten peptides to <20 ppm. The international standard for acceptable gluten levels for people who have Celiac Disease is a max of around 20ppm per whatever food or drink they are having. To me, adding Clarity Ferm seems like a good, safe insurance policy that would allow her to enjoy my beer again.

But then I got to googling and discovered the following:

• Duvel Belgian Golden Ale naturally has <20ppm gluten peptides in it, as do most lagers
• Stouts and Porters generally have 8 to 25, with Guinness (for example) having roughly 20ppm. More robust, high gravity examples push this number up.
• 100ppm or less is generally considered "low gluten levels," and safe for the gluten sensitive (non celiac) which nearly every beer I've been able to find information on falls under.

It seems like a lot of beers actually fall within the realm of safe for the gluten sensitive. Since my wife does not experience GI or skin symptoms of gluten intolerance, but affects her mood and energy, I'm wondering if beer in general is actually reasonably safe for her, and for other people that can tolerate mild levels of gluten? We always viewed a bottle of beer as 12 ounces of gluten TNT, but it seems like there's much less in it than we both thought.

What are your thoughts? Should I add Clarity Ferm to my beer at the onset of fermentation as an insurance policy for her? Are most lower gravity commercial beers (maybe non hefeweizen/german wheat beer) generally safe for the gluten sensitive?

Im sure it is case specific. My dad is also Gluten sensitive for a few years now and has had to avoid "regular beer" , hes fine with distilled spirits and can eat Oatmeal. I made him a GF beer before fathers day but after making it , he said he liked it and appreciated it but the fact remains it doesnt taste like regular beer,which I told him when I gave it to him. A couple weeks ago I asked my mom if he was drinking it and she regretted to say he wasnt since it tasted "weird" ,and he didnt want to hurt my feelings. I understood and was actually glad that I dont have to attempt making it again. It wasnt fun, it was a big mess.
If you do find a method that tastes "regular" good luck with it.

 

[glutarded-chris]

My dad is also Gluten sensitive for a few years now and has had to avoid "regular beer" , hes fine with distilled spirits and can eat Oatmeal.

I don't think gluten proteins can make it through the distilling process so as far as I know distilled spirits are always ok. Oats are naturally gluten free, its just that oats are often a rotation crop with wheat or barley, so you can get cross contamination with some brands. Just make sure the oats are gluten free like Bob's Red Mill. There are so many gluten free options these days in the grocery store and at restaurants, it is pretty easy to avoid!

I think ultimately my wife will end up maybe having a very occassional beer on a trip, etc. but in the meantime I'm working hard to get my GF brewing up to snuff. It's definitely a major bummer, the rise of hard seltzers this summer has been a small bit of saving grace for her for things like concerts, cookouts, etc

Getting poisoned on a trip is the worst so that is the last place to cheat. I am extra careful when I travel!
Good cider options are getting better and better. Not all back sweetened to the point of being a liquid Jolly Rancher. I didn't initially care for ciders that much but they have grown on me. I am sure you can dial in a GF beer that she will enjoy!

 

[Qhrumphf]

When the Clarity Ferm/"gluten reduced"/Omission thing first became a thing, I both did a small amount of research, as well as discussing with a mate who had Celiac.

What I garnered, the enzymes in Clarity Ferm do break down gluten, into smaller proteins. At the time, those proteins were not easy to test for, and *some* people with gluten issues could still react negatively to them. So while testable gluten could be <20ppm, other adjacent proteins that could still cause issues could be much higher.

Granted, this a number of years ago, and I can only assume the scientific understanding has grown since then.

For people with legit gluten allergies (the actual science suggests most of them are not real), the safe answer is still probably "no gluten" instead of "removed gluten".

 

[LittleRiver]

...the rise of hard seltzers this summer has been a small bit of saving grace for her for things like concerts, cookouts, etc

You have to be careful with the hard seltzers. Here's the label text from a Smirnoff spiked sparkling seltzer:

"Crafted to remove gluten. Product fermented from grains containing gluten and crafted to remove gluten. The gluten content of this product cannot be verified, and this product may contain gluten."
​

 

[muddy1015]

You have to be careful with the hard seltzers. Here's the label text from a Smirnoff spiked sparkling seltzer:

"Crafted to remove gluten. Product fermented from grains containing gluten and crafted to remove gluten. The gluten content of this product cannot be verified, and this product may contain gluten."
​

Yea that's a great point - so far she's been rolling with White Claw's and Trulys, I'm a little intrigued by what brands are using other than cane sugar or corn sugar, but definitely something to look out for.

 

[glutarded-chris]

The good thing is a huge number of products these days will put on the label if it is gluten free. You should be sure to check any fermented product. Soy sauce, for instance, is often fermented using wheat, so the first ingredient can be wheat. The Asian originals were probably not fermented using wheat but it must be less expensive to produce, so most of what we get in the US is not GF. Things like malt vinegar can have gluten and I just learned that miso soup has a fermented base that can have barley as a base.

 

[xflibble]

Please read this:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...st-to-make-sure-your-beer-is-gluten-free/amp/